Cluster bombs dispense submunitions, often referred to as bomblets, and are commonly used to provide for multiple detonations above a target. At some point after launching, the submunitions are dispensed as a result of a time fuze or proximity fuze at a predetermined height above the target in a spread out pattern.
In the more common types of cluster bombs, the fuze ignites an expelling charge that pushes a piston to expel the submunitions from the bomb or dispenser. When they fall, the submunitions tend to explode when they hit the ground. Unexploded submunitions stay on top of the ground, unlike regular bombs which tend to bury themselves into the earth such that, even in cases where they do not explode, they are generally harmless.
Contrary to this, unexploded bomblets (duds), which tend to remain on the ground's surface, are left long after a conflict ends and these duds often maim and kill unintended victims. The tendency for duds increases with the age of the submunitions and at some point they become obsolete and they need to be destroyed, as leaving behind duds is clearly an unwanted side-effect of using the cluster bombs.
Destroying cluster bombs is expensive and time consuming and there has been a long-felt need to provide a remedy to this issue.